Liam O’Hanna stated after case thrown out final month that costs geared toward silencing dissent over Gaza struggle.
Printed On 7 Oct 2025
Prosecutors in the UK are interesting a courtroom choice to throw out a “terrorism” cost in opposition to Liam O’Hanna, often known as Og O hAnnaidh, a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap.
O’Hanna was accused of displaying a flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah throughout a London live performance in November, however the case was dismissed in late September by a London courtroom on account of a technical error.
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“We’re interesting the choice to dismiss this case as we imagine there is a vital level of regulation which must be clarified,” a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stated on Tuesday.
The rapper, often known as Mo Chara (“my good friend” in Gaeilge), was charged in Might below the UK Terrorism Act, which states that it’s a felony offence to show an article in a manner that arouses affordable suspicion that somebody is a supporter of a banned organisation.
On September 26, Chief Justice of the Peace Paul Goldspring advised Woolwich Crown Courtroom that the case was “illegal” and “null” because it had been introduced outdoors the six-month statutory restrict.
There was no instant remark from Kneecap relating to the CPS’s attraction announcement. After the costs had been thrown out final month, O’Hanna stated the case had extra to do with Gaza and “what occurs for those who dare to talk up” relatively than “any risk to the general public”.
“As folks from Eire, we all know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We now have suffered and nonetheless endure below ‘your empire’,” he stated. “Your makes an attempt to silence us have failed as a result of we’re proper and you’re unsuitable. We is not going to be silent.”
Northern Eire First Minister Michelle O’Neill stated on the time that the costs had been “a part of a calculated try to silence those that rise up and converse out in opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza”.
The members of Kneecap have been accused by some countries of selling “terrorism” resulting from statements made in assist of Palestinians throughout Israel’s struggle on Gaza.
Hungary and Canada have banned the group from entry, and a number of the group’s live shows in Germany and Austria had been cancelled this yr.
The group has constantly maintained it doesn’t assist Hezbollah or Hamas or condone violence.
